So, if this forum does turn into a general-talk forum, without Nickelodeon – the feel free to direct some Nickelodeon talk over to my boards.

I still enjoy visiting this forum and looking through posts (even if I don’t regularly post myself).

I’ve also made some good friends for here. I still speak with Derek (old username of jarjar23 I think).

superyo

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject:

yeah this place's dead...

The old time is over and it's time to make something different

I had the idea of making a cartoon information site, but a site needs some people to take care of it... and I must admit I don't have as much free time as I had before !

My idea would be to close Nickdisk... yep, this is the end... my friend and start something new something that will give everyone the pleasure to come here and post like before don't worry I won't delete messages... juste move them in a subforum like "old nickdisk". I'll kept every account and could build something around

New place, new site, new board, new team !

Mike, would you like to be the first brick of that wall ? (yeah I like pink floyd ) you can mail me

Star

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:44 pm Post subject:

You've made several valid points, and your ideas seem to be good ones. Maybe Superyo should make you an admin (if you're interested).

I can step down as admin. I haven't done much in way administrative duties unless I was asked to do something. It was always more or less an honorary title. I do care about the forum and the members though. That's never changed.

tommy_baby

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:25 pm Post subject:

I like that silly yellow sponge. (Admittedly, the new episodes are...well...bad, at best description.)

I don't think we should full-on ditch the cartoon theme - it can be toned down quite a bit, but not fully ditched. I'd suggest we combine ALL cartoons (not just Nick) into a single discussion board, along with something for live-action and adult shows, a section for printed media, a section music, and a section for movie releases.

I like the idea of having a history section, and a political chat (thouhg for safety reasons, you should have to be logged in to look at it). The computer section is also an excellent idea, and the car section...well, I'm more of a train fan, but that'd still attract people.

Another thing we could add is a section where members can express the creative left (?) side of thier brain, for thier own writings and art. This should not be restricted to fanworks, anything could be put there.

Ok. The programmer in me is starting to get the brain wheels moving. Here are some ideas:

First of all, I'd start by prunning the user list and cancelling those accounts that haven't been active in the last 12 months or so. I mean, if you register to a site and don't even make a post in one year, it's evident you don't liked what you saw.

Another thing would be to shed those forums that hadn't seen action in the last months. My, the "Other cartoon" forum hasn't seen any action since I posted about that Mampato cartoon in january (which, btw, didn't even get a single reply... XD)

Next I'd set up a poll right up front asking those few regulars that still visit to propose topics or areas of interest. If the current categories don't fill their eyes, let people say what they'd like to talk about.

Maybe next thing would be a general renaming and revamping of the forum. Nickdisk is so asociated to Nickelodeon (in its name and the design of its logo) that it looks like it only has to do with it. And considering that Nickelodeon is barely showing anything but that silly yellow sponge, that doesn't really help attracting people to our place.

Last, but not least, a new launch of the site, complete with ads in the major search engines, other forums, etc. Publicize us, letting people know that we're still around. Like someone once said, if we're going down, let's go down screaming, instead of dying quietly.

knoodelhed

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:18 pm Post subject:

So much of what you speak of rings true. At present, however, I am at a loss for a definitive course of action. I agree that something needs very badly to be done; however, as to what form it might take, I'll go on with whatever seems to work.

Looks to me like this forum is quietly going down the tubes, and in other circumstances I would merely slip away and go on to other stuff - I know many people have done it already, and this post might be as successful as a speech in the main square of a ghost town, but I prefer to step on my old crate and do a little preaching instead of going quietly.

Anywho. This forum has been very important to me for a number of reasons. I met here several of my best online friends, and I keep really fond memories of the talks and chats we had when we were still writing fanfiction and having an active discussion in the forums. It was a very interesting place to be, not only because of the topics discussed but also because of the people.

And that's pretty much the problem, as I see it. We have a lot of registered users, but I wonder how many of them have made at least five posts. It all sums up to this: the same group of people (which is smaller every week) trying to keep the forum alive, even though the admins themselves seem to have lost the interest in it. I mean, I haven't seen much of Superyo, Star, Avaitor, or the other admins in weeks, if not months.

Online forums are communities, and to thrive they need people to share stuff and information that appeals to other people. Of course there will always be lurkers - people who register just to see what's in the threads, but who never even bother to post anything. So the vicious circle closes and shrinks every time - less and less people posting, less and less interesting topics, less and less motivation to even come visiting the site, which in turns causes less and less people to feel like posting, and so on.

There's a natural law of sorts that applies to cities and towns, and can be used on Internet forums as well. When towns start, they are usually created by a group of people with similar interests and goals, who are willing to work together to make their town thrive and prosper, and who are willing to face the challenges and overcome difficulties in order to stay in the place they chose to be. Then new people begin to arrive over time, and more and more people start settling, until the small outpost becomes a town, then a city. With more citizens (users) come more activity, more interaction, bigger needs, and yes, bigger problems. You need to provide infrastructure, education, health, everything.

But then, there's a moment when the number of new people arriving in town begins to fade. And then the tendency reverses: jobs and oportunities begin to stale, services and infrastructure begin to age, and the younger and capable begin looking for opportunities elsewhere, until the only inhabitors of the town left are those who are too old, too sick, or too sentimental to leave. Little by little they too abandon town, until the last resident leaves the ghost town.

The same is happening here; I've been lurking for a while, just checking if there's any sign of activity in the forum, but to no avail. Right now, this site has become a nice relic of a recent past, with interesting threads (the oldest ones) buried under layers and layers of irrelevant, insubstantial matters, mostly personal issues or stuff copied from other places and the classic one-word replies. There is not a sense of community here anymore, and the city hall has closed its doors, the "Mayor" (Superyo) and his staff abandoning town apparently for good.

Ok. So I had to get that off my chest. Now, I want to throw some ideas that might be a way to keep our community going, though in a quite different way as we knew it back in the day. Here goes:

1) Ditch the Nickelodeon- and cartoon- theme. It's evident that the few remaining residents are not interested anymore on whatever Nick has to offer, and whatever new registered users we've had have not been interested on taking part on the discussions, not even by digging old stuff and bumping it to the light. So it makes no sense at all to have a Nickelodeon - related section. It hasn't seen much action lately, anyway.

2) We need to get together and propose things that interest us and would like to talk about. It's evident we, the few people still posting, are not interested on talking about, say, books, or Nickelodeon, or Disney, or stuff like that. We've definitely grown out of that. So, what would YOU be interested on talking?? Let's be proactive, people, and make suggestions. Me, for starters, I would like to have a forum where I could discuss stuff about cars, computers, politics and history; those are the things that have occupied my mind for a while.

3) We need an active management. Superyo, Star, I know you've been very busy lately. It is unfair to put so much pressure on you and the other admins to come and regulate life in the forums, but we do need a definition: are you interested in this site? Do you still want it to be active?? Or we should consider it has served its purpose and, metaphorically, turn off the lights and close the doors? That's important, because without you, without an active and involved management, this site will never have life again.

4) We need to create contents. Not much to say about this one, right? It's OK to read what the few posters write, but people, we want to hear your opinion too. So, to those lurkers who only registered to see what's this about, this is a mayday call: we need you to post too, because otherwise we won't know how to make this thing interesting to you. Right now there are what, five, ten active posters?? Out of a gazillion registered users? That's not a very favorable ratio, is it??

So, that's it. It's time to make a decision, and we need Superyo to help us, because he owns the place. The coin is in the air. What should we do?